★★★ – “Rose Byrne is hilarious in this energetic sequel.”

When their new next-door neighbours turn out to be a sorority even more debaucherous than the fraternity previously living there, Mac and Kelly team with their former enemy, Teddy, to bring the girls down.

Following on from the events in the first movie, Mac and Kelly are now in the midst of having another baby. All is well, the house is up for sale and the buyers seem very interested. After confusion, Mac & Kelly realise that their house is now in an escrow payment period. Meaning the buyers are liable to drop in anytime to inspect the house for any problems or issues with the neighbourhood. This seems easy for now, until they meet their new neighbours…

First of all, I love Seth Rogen. I think he’s a very funny and talented man. I can always be sure to have a good time watching his movies, and this is no different. Bad Neighbours 2 (or Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) is a fun sequel which will most likely live up to your expectations. That is, as long as you are not too hopeful in this being better than the first. It’s no better nor worse, just a steady continuation of a pretty simple story with a few laugh-out-loud moments, with other sections of underwhelming delivery. Seth is just as great as he is in all of his other movies. Chloë Moretz is pretty decent here, though I felt she never really got many chances to shine in terms of comedy. I love Moretz, she’s rising fast, nabbing many roles and I believe she’s only going to become bigger as her experience in film thickens. Zac Efron is brilliant alongside Seth, they have really great chemistry which is something we didn’t get to see in the first movie. Rose Byrne is the one in the spotlight here. Just like the first movie, she delivers lines with absolute ease and definitely had me laughing louder than the rest. Perfect.

There were a few moments where I thought the lines could have been delivered better by some of the cast members, but this is purely because I love fast-paced, back-and-forth humour. However, the script needed some tightening to round off the overkill and sharpen the comedy.

In terms of the story, it’s essentially the same as the predecessor (new neighbours, they cause problems, now they must fight for peace) but it seems the writers wanted to add some meaning or ‘moral’ to this instalment. You can definitely notice this when you’re watching but it’s nothing too distracting or cheesy. Of course there are parties, airbags, a creepy clown, and a whole lot of craziness crammed into this sequel, but it’s ultimately just as good as the first.

If you’re expecting too much, you probably won’t find this to be much fun. But if you’re familiar with Seth and the kind of humour he delivers then you’ll be pleased nonetheless.

Verdict; Bad Neighbours 2 isn’t a classic comedy hit, but it’s also nowhere near as unworthy of the ‘comedy’ genre like some of the movies that have released in the past couple years. If you have nothing else to do, watch this movie. The least you’ll do is chuckle, which is better than nothing. Seth, Rose and Zac are worth the price alone.